Garrard County Distilling Co – Behind The Scenes – CLOSED

Garrard County Distilling Co
450 Southern Soul Way
Lancaster KY 40444
email: info@staghorn.com
garrardcountydistillingco.com
Tour — Review
THE DISTILLERY IS NOW CLOSED

Come with us to the home of All Nations Bourbon on a Garrard County Distilling Co Tour!

Located about an hour south of downtown Lexington, KY, the Garrard County Distilling Co is situated on 210 scenic rustic acres. The property is currently home to the 50,000+ sq ft distillery, as well as two 25,000 barrel capacity rickhouses. In addition, future plans call for a total of 24 warehouses to be constructed.

This past November, we had the pleasure of visiting the distillery and spending some time with Barry Downing, Managing Partner of Gen X Solutions, who is contracted by Garrard County Distilling Co as an Industry Advisor and Liaison Officer, General Manager Sandy Bennett and Quality Supervisor Nick Kommer. Our visit gave us a great feel for what Garrard County Distilling is all about, and to experience their expansive, state of the art facility, firsthand.

Background Information

Garrard County Distilling Co is owned by Staghorn, an Atlanta based spirits company. The distillery has twin 45 foot tall column stills, and is capable of producing 150,000+ barrels annually, when running at maximum capacity. They utilize limestone rich water from the region’s Lancaster Public Springs aquifer, and locally sourced grains (other than malted barley), for producing their whiskey. Currently, they operate both as a contract distiller and producer of their flagship brand, All Nations Whiskey.

A Dry County

For over a century, Garrard County was dry. That all changed in late 2023. Soon after, in January 2024, Garrard County Distilling Co distilled their first batch of bourbon. Their visitor center and tasting bar were completed in late 2024, and distillery tours soon followed.

Grain Handling

Our tour of the distillery began outside next to a group of towering grain bins, notable for the spiraling staircases entwined on their outsides. Manufactured by Brock, these large bins stand about 110 feet tall. Immediately adjacent to the bins are two very large hopper-shaped scales. These scales measure the grain for each batch with an accuracy of 100g. Once the grain has been precisely measured, it is transported inside the distillery to a grain holding tank and then into one of two very large hammer mills. Interestingly, it turns out that there are two of almost every piece of distilling equipment at Garrard County Distilling Co. Uniquely, they have built two twin distilleries, which can operative completely independently from each other.

Cookers and Fermenters

Moving inside the distillery, we see half of the fermenters and cookers, the others being in their twin distillery, located on the opposite side of the building. The cookers have a 10,000 gallon capacity, and it takes two cooks to fill each of the 20,000 gallon fermenters. Ultimately, there will be 24 fermenters in total. Since Garrard County Distilling Co was built with the capability to produce a large amount of whiskey, the stages of production are optimized for the greatest output. Therefore, the cooks are 8 hours long, with fermentation lasting 72-80 hours. Thus, with 3 cooks per day, the cycle is very efficient, with no piece of equipment remaining dormant for very long.

Stills

Since Garrard County Distilling Co is two distilleries in one, there are also two complete distillation lines. These consist of twin Vendome 36 inch diameter, 45 foot tall, copper column stills. Each still is paired with a doubler, and a high wine and low wine tank. These massive stills produce low wines of 110-115 proof. The doublers then bring the low wines up to 136 proof. From there, the high wine heads to one of the two twin spirit and gauging tanks, and then onto barreling. Due to the two parallel distilleries, two completely different spirits can be distilled at one time. How’s that for efficiency!

All Nations Whiskey

The All Nations Whiskey brand honors the heritage of Carry A. Nation (also spelled Carrie), an ardent proponent of the Temperance Movement. She didn’t just preach about the evils of alcohol; she attacked taverns with her hatchet. Not unsurprisingly, due to her aggressive tactics, she became quite well known. So much so, in fact, that bar owners hung posters with the slogan “All Nations Welcome Except Carrie” on the walls of their bars.

Currently there are three expressions in the All Nations line, as well as occasional distillery only releases. The regularly available whiskeys are all All Nations Bourbons and include: Small Batch, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (“Flagship”) and Single Barrel. Since Garrard County Distilling Co just began distilling this past year, Garrard County sources the bourbons used in these expressions. For example, the bourbons used in their flagship white labelled Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey were distilled in Clermont, Danville, Owensboro, and Boston, KY before arriving for final aging and blending at Garrard County Distilling Co.

Tasting All Nations Bourbon and Garrard County’s Own Distillates

We had the opportunity to taste all three of the All Nations Bourbons, and my full review is forthcoming. In addition, we also tried some of Garrard County Distilling Co’s house distilled whiskey and new make. We sampled a rye and two single malts, as well their bourbon. The bourbon, which is made from a 70% corn, 21% rye and 9% malted barley mash bill uses Kentucky corn and rye, and barley from the midwest. Their rye uses a 95% kentucky rye and 5% malted barley mash bill.

Finally, we sampled two different single malt expressions, one aged in used bourbon barrels, and the other aged in virgin wine barrels made with 36 month seasoned staves, with char level 4. While these whiskeys were all less than a year old, both they and their respective new makes, had very enjoyable flavors which bode well for the quality of these whiskeys when they reach maturity.

Carry A. Nation Birth House

Although Carry Nation later lived in Kansas, she was born in Garrard County, Kentucky, not far from where Garrard County Distilling is currently located. Due to the ties of their brand to Carry (something she would have undoubtedly hated), they transported her birth house, stone by stone, to their property, and reconstructed it. Although some portions needed to be replaced, such as the roof, the majority of the house is the original construction. However, the materials are not necessarily in their original locations. For example, some of the wood from the roof was used to reconstruct parts of the floor. Additionally, according to local legend, the house is haunted. So, it’s probably best to leave your whiskey outside when visiting it. I know we did!

Visiting Garrard County Distilling Co – Tour Information

Although the construction of the visitor center and tasting room was not yet completed at the time of our visit, it was soon after. And, from the photos I have seen, it looks like it turned out beautifully! I borrowed a couple of those photos (below) from their Facebook page, until I can visit again and take some of my own.

Now that the visitor center and tasting room are open, Garrard County Distilling offers a 45 minute tour of their facility, as well as tastings. The All Nations Welcome (except Carrie) Whiskey Tour begins in the Carry Nation birth house, where visitors learn a brief history about her. Then it is on to the distillery, where visitors see first-hand the whiskey making process. The tour concludes with a tasting of All Nations Bourbons, and a sneak peak at some distillery only offerings. As of January 2025, tours are offered Mondays through Saturdays, and are priced at $15. For details, current tour times and pricing, please see the distillery website.

Conclusion

Garrard County Distilling Co has many unique features, which make it worth a stop for anyone visiting the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. From a production standpoint, the twin parallel distilleries is something that I haven’t seen anywhere else. And from a history standpoint, what other distillery has the birth house of a famous Temperance Movement figure? Not to mention, they are also making some delicious whiskey! This is definitely a distillery to put on your radar, because there are some exciting things to come! Cheers!🥃

Thank you to Barry, Sandy and Nick for a great visit! If you would like to read about more distilleries, in Kentucky and elsewhere, head on over to our Distillery Reviews section! Or, learn about their bourbons in our All Nations Flagship Bourbon Review, our All Nations Small Batch Bourbon Review and our All Nations Single Barrel Bourbon Review!

Would you like to learn more about distilleries and bourbon? Are you planning a trip to Kentucky Distilleries? Maybe you would like to live the bourbon life vicariously through us? If any of these are true, then check out BourbonObsessed.com today!